Guo Yu-shao was born in a poor family, after
a few years' study in a primary school, he became a flute making apprentice
at the age of 12. His master was Z.L.Gao from Shandong. Guo was bewitched
by the wonder of turning a piece of bamboo to life through the process of
sawing, drilling, burnishing, carving and tuning. Being trustworthy and
hardworking, he mastered all the techniques of xiao and dizi making from
his tutor. Later he worked in Guangzhou's largest instrument factory, from
a regular worker to a leading director.

Y.S.Guo
making flutes, photo taken 30 years ago

In 1966,Y.S. Guo worked with several flute
makers to make the largest dizi flute in history-1.8 meter in length bass
dizi. This flute surprised the audience when it was performed in a concert.
Now this flute is still hanging on the wall of Guo's workshop.

Y.S.Guo
playing the largest bass dizi flute. They made two, the other one is hanging
on the wall.

"Now over 95% Guangzhou's exquisite
xiao and dizi are made by us." Guo reflected.
He has been making flutes for over 50 years, and no matter how bad his situation
was, he never gave up flute-making.Guo commented that the thickness, boldness
and texture of each piece of bamboo are not the same. It is only when a
piece of bamboo is tailor-made according to its own quality and the performance
focus that the flute will be brought to life and show its characters. "The
design of Chinese flutes is very humanistic. Different performers will consolidate
this feature." He said.

Y.S.Guo
exchanging experiences with a US flutist who visited their workshop years
ago

About
Guo Da-qiang, the "King of Nan Xiao"

Guo passed these techniques to his son,
Guo Da-qiang. At the age of five he followed his father and played around
in the flute factory. Now D.Q. Guo has over 30 years flute making experience.
In 1997 when his father retired they opened a flute workshop- Yue Sheng
Instruments Workshop. The father selects the materials and Da-qiang tunes
the flutes. In the past his father used a few simple tools like a saw, a
knife, a drill and a piece of sand paper and turned dry bamboo pieces to
spirit. Now machines took the place of simple tools, but the step of tuning
is still a painstaking manual step despite the help of tuning machines.

The
Guo father and son playing dizi together in their flute gallery in 2004

D.Q.
Guo is an expert in tuning because he has good ears. All dizi and xiao have
to be tuned in concert pitch (A=440). It takes around a week to entirely
finish tuning a flute. D.Q. Guo exceptionally loves xiao flutes. All the
xiao he makes have unique characters. Under his marvellous craftsmanship,
different flutists will bring out different temperaments of the flutes.
So D.Q. Guo was crowned "King of Nan Xiao" by a famous flutist
Zhang Wei-liang.